Deals of the day - mergers and acquisitions

Jan 31 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2100 GMT on Thursday:

** Private equity firms, including Carlyle and KKR , this week submitted non-binding offers for control of French fashion brands Maje, Sandro and Claudie Pierlot, sources familiar with the transaction told Reuters.

** Royal Dutch Shell is to shut permanently most units of its 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) Hamburg-Harburg refinery in March, completing a deal made with Swedish refiner Nynas in 2011, the company said on Thursday.

** UniCredit, Italy’s largest bank by assets, may sell Kazakhstan’s ATF Bank to a firm owned by Kazakh businessman Galimzhan Yesenov for about $500 million, sources close to the deal and in ATF Bank told Reuters on Thursday.

** Ocwen Financial Corp is in the lead to buy Ally Bank’s $122 billion of mortgage servicing rights, three people familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

The deal is expected to be valued at around $1 billion and could be announced soon, said one of the sources, who declined to be identified because details of the auction are not public.

** Belgian biscuit maker Lotus Bakeries will buy sector peer Biscuiterie Willems to grow production capacity of its trademark caramelised ‘speculoos’ biscuits, the group announced on Thursday.

** Qatar Telecom (Qtel) plans to raise its stake in Asiacell as part of the Iraqi unit’s $1.35 billion share sale, a Baghdad bourse official said on Thursday, as the Gulf telco seeks greater control of its foreign affiliates.

** Greece’s privatisation agency on Thursday picked U.S. private equity fund NCH Capital to develop land on the island of Corfu for tourism, in a 23 million euro deal that is part of the government’s asset sales agenda to pay down public debt.

** The owner of offroad motorbike maker KTM acquired rival brand Husqvarna from Germany’s BMW on Thursday in a consolidation move that helps shave costs as the industry copes with a slump in Europe.

** Gardner Denver Inc has asked private equity bidders to submit final offers for the industrial machinery maker by mid-February, three people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Buyout firms Advent International Corp, KKR & Co LP, and the partnership of TPG Capital Management LP and Onex Corp have been weighing final bids after meeting with Gardner Denver’s management in the past few weeks, the people said.

** Payment processor Fidelity National Information Services Inc said it would buy the remaining 78 percent stake in mFoundry that it does not already own for about $120 mln in cash to focus on the mobile banking business.

** Italian private equity fund Clessidra has decided to present an improved offer for Telecom Italia Media before its controlling shareholder Telecom Italia meets on Feb. 7 to examine the sale of the television company, a source close to the matter said on Thursday.

** The FIMI fund said is in talks to join a group that controls flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines, Israel’s largest private investment fund said on Thursday.

El Al is controlled by Knafaim Holdings with a 39.33 percent stake.

** Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, said on Thursday it would “vigorously” contest a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block it from taking full control of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo.

AB InBev said the Department of Justice’s action was “inconsistent with the law, the facts and the reality of the market place.”

** Debt-laden Mechel said on Thursday it bought nearly 22 percent of the Pacific port of Vanino, helping to ensure the Russian mining and steel company has access to its preferred export route to Asia.

** Scientific Games Corp, which makes tickets and software for lotteries, said it would acquire rival WMS Industries Inc for about $1.42 billion to beef up its gaming machines business.

** Malaysian state oil company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) has made an 8.8 billion ringgit ($2.85 billion) offer to buy out other shareholders in shipping unit MISC Bhd and delist it.

** Annaly Capital Management Inc will gain control of CreXus Investment Corp after raising its offer for the remaining 88 percent stake in the commercial mortgage investor.

** BTG Pactual, Brazil’s largest independent investment bank, said on Wednesday it would pay about 418 million reais (US$210 million) to privately owned deposit guarantee fund FGC to acquire Banco Bamerindus do Brasil.

** Shares of Singapore’s WBL Corp Ltd surged to the highest in nearly 2-1/2 years after United Engineers Ltd said it will launch a rival bid, topping an earlier offer from Straits Trading Co Ltd and fuelling speculation of a bidding war.

** China’s Hanlong Group has left Sundance Resources Ltd shareholders in suspense again over whether it will be able to fund its $1.4 billion takeover of the Australian company, with signs that it will not meet a key deadline on Thursday.

** Citigroup Inc is looking to pull out of consumer banking in more countries in an effort to lower costs and boost profits, according to two people familiar with the matter.

** Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways is in talks with India’s Jet Airways for a potential investment in the Indian carrier, India’s Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said on Thursday, without giving any details of the possible deal.

Jet expects to finalise a stake sale deal with Etihad “in a week or so”, an executive at the carrier, who declined to be named said.

** Electronic payment services provider ACI Worldwide Inc said it will buy its peer, Online Resources Corp , in an all-cash deal with an equity value of about $126.6 million to expand its footprint in the online banking and bill payment sectors.

** India’s DLF Ltd said on Thursday it would sell part of its wind power assets with a capacity of 150 megawatts to Bharat Light and Power Pvt Ltd for 2.82 billion rupees ($52.8 million) as part of its plans to reduce debt.

** A consortium lead by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is in talks to pump up to 1.8 billion euros ($2.4 billion) into Dutch banking and insurance group SNS Reaal , a local newspaper reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources.